Confirmed Exoplanet Discovered 2012

Kepler-52 b

A sub-neptune orbiting the m-type red dwarf Kepler-52, located approximately 1,048.7 light-years from Earth.

Key parameters at a glance

  • A radius of 2.10 Earth radii
  • A mass of 135.00 Earth masses
  • Surface gravity around 30.61 g
  • An orbital period of 7.877 days
  • Semi-major axis 0.0637 AU
  • Equilibrium temperature 553 K (280 °C)
  • Distance from Earth 1,048.73 light-years
  • Earth Similarity Index 0.395
  • Travel time at Voyager 1 speed 18,494,327 years
  • Almost certainly tidally locked to its host star given the close orbit

2 siblings around Kepler-52

Kepler-52 b shares its host star with 2 other confirmed planets. Side-by-side measurements below.

Planet Type Radius (R⊕) Mass (M⊕) Period (d) Eq. T (K) Year
Kepler-52 b this Sub-Neptune 2.10 135.00 7.877 553 2012
Kepler-52 c Super-Earth 1.84 45.40 16.385 433 2012
Kepler-52 d Super-Earth 1.95 88.88 36.445 332 2014

Kepler-52 b Planet Profile

Physical Specs

Radius
2.10 R⊕
Radius (Jupiter)
0.187 R♃
Mass
135.00 M⊕
Mass (Jupiter)
0.425 M♃
Density
3.35 g/cm³
Surface Gravity
30.61 g (Earth)

Classification

Planet Type

Sub-Neptune

ESI Score 0.395
HZ Position Inner
Controversial No

Discovery

Year 2012
Method Transit
Facility Kepler
Telescope 0.95 m Kepler Telescope

Size rank in cohort

Rank by radius

#1818of 1978

top 91.9%

This planet

2.10R⊕

Sub-Neptune median

2.71R⊕

Nearest-size peers

Metric Earth Kepler-52 b Jupiter
Radius (R⊕)1.002.1011.21
Mass (M⊕)1.00135.00317.83
Density (g/cm³)5.513.351.33
Surface Gravity (g)1.0030.612.53
Insolation (S⊕)1.0022.720.037

Alternative Mass Estimates

Method Value Interpretation
Best measured mass 135.000 M⊕ Direct mass measurement (not derived).

Star Catalogue Identifiers

TIC

TIC 399825554

Gaia DR2

Gaia DR2 2133589776693414016

Gaia DR3

Gaia DR3 2133589776693414016

System

Kepler-52

Percentile among Sub-Neptune cohort

Radius 2.100 R⊕ · percentile 7 / cohort 1978
Mass 135.000 M⊕ · percentile 99 / cohort 1978
Orbital period 7.88 d · percentile 25 / cohort 1946
Distance 321.54 pc · percentile 37 / cohort 1975
ESI 0.395 · percentile 51 / cohort 1978

Orbit & Habitability

Orbital Dynamics

Period
7.877 days
Semi-major axis
0.0637 AU
Eccentricity
0.000
Inclination
89.92 °

Year Length

A year here lasts approximately 7.88 Earth days (2.2% of a terrestrial year) on a nearly circular orbit at a mean orbital distance of 0.0637 AU.

Transit Fingerprint

Depth

0.146 %

Duration

2.422 h

Impact parameter b

0.040

Rp / R★

0.036980

Transit midpoint (BJD)

2,455,009.3769

Photometric dip

Transit produces a flux drop of 1,462 ppm lasting ≈ 2.42 h.

Extended Orbital Architecture

Planet / star radius ratio

0.036980

Semi-major axis / stellar radius

29.800

Impact parameter (b)

0.040

Transit mid-time (BJD)

2,455,009.3769

Angular separation (arcsec)

0.19800

Eq. Temperature

553K

(280 °C)

Insolation (S⊕)

22.72

Earth = 1.00

Earth Similarity (ESI)

0.395

0 = alien, 1 = Earth-identical

Inside the inner HZ boundary (too hot for liquid water) — the surface is too hot to retain surface water. Close-orbiting tidally-locked around a cool host.

Detection Signatures

Transit photometry

A transit dip has been observed from at least one telescope.

Transit timing variations

Gravitational interactions from neighbours have been detected.

Discovery Paper

Primary reference

Steffen et al. 2013

Instrument

Kepler CCD Array

Publication

2013-01

Observation locale

Space

Host System: Kepler-52

Spectral Class

M-type red dwarf

Effective Temperature

4,075 K — cooler than the Sun (5,778 K)

Estimated Age

1.01 Gyr — younger than the Sun (4.6 Gyr)

Stellar Radius

0.520 R☉

Stellar Mass

0.540 M☉

Metallicity [Fe/H]

0.00

Extended Stellar Properties

Surface gravity (log g)

4.740 dex

Stellar density

3.440 g/cm³

Metallicity ratio

[Fe/H]

Distance
321.54 parsec
Light-years 1,048.73 ly
V-band magnitude
15.51 mag
Voyager-speed travel 18,494,327 yr

Multi-band Host Photometry — 16 bands

9.317.117.13B15.51V15.06Gaia15.10Kepler14.26TESS16.33Sloan g15.07Sloan r14.57Sloan i14.31Sloan z13.15J12.51H12.36K12.27W112.30W212.26W39.26W4

Astrometric Data

Parallax

3.081 mas

Total Proper Motion

4.207 mas/yr

PM Right Ascension

-3.98 mas/yr

PM Declination

1.38 mas/yr

Galactic Cartesian (pc)

x = 0.185 · y = -0.616 · z = 0.766

Equatorial (J2000)

RA 286.73802° · Dec 49.97574°

Galactic ℓ, b

80.478° · 18.087°

Ecliptic λ, β

305.415° · 71.362°

HTM-20 index

364710180

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